Category: weight loss

Meet a Real Fitness Girl: Cindy P-L

Cindy P-L has been training with me for a couple of years now. I’ve seen her get strong, go vegan, and lose weight. Her progress is worth mentioning, so here is her story, in her words.

Cindy P-L

I have been a serial regular exerciser all of my adult life.  Unfortunately, this was interspersed with bouts (months to years) of time out of the workout routine also. Fortunately, almost 3 years ago, I started working out 5-6 days a week, and this time, it seems to be sticking.

I like the balance of cardio plus weight training because I absolutely know that my body needs both. I always strive for cardio daily to promote weight loss. However, I need to do weight or resistance training and most importantly core work at least 3-4 times per week. Having a strong core has made everything else easier, and the same goes for stronger arms and legs.

When I need to self-motivate, I remember my commitment to myself and my health and how great I feel since I’ve been serious about it.  And I reestablish my health goals in my mind. Truthfully, I also have a strong fear of missing 1 day and that day turning into missing a week, and so on.  It has happened so easily and quickly in my life in the past.

Down the line, I hope to lose 15-20 more pounds (that will be 85-90 total) and then slow down the workout routine just slightly.  I’d like to reach a point where my long-term routine is 4 hard workouts a week, plus active family time.

I know that regular exercise will be a part of my routine for the rest of my life in order to remain healthy, stave off the diabetes that most of my family experiences, and remain comfortably active. My most important goal is to run around with my grandchildren one day!

My advice for someone who knows she needs to be exercising/eating a healthy diet but just can’t imagine how to begin: Start with small goals. When you’re 20 or even 100 pounds overweight and you’re not working out or eating well, it’s hard to get started because it all feels overwhelming. It’s important to know that every meal eaten more healthily and every minute working out is positive motion. You need to accept that it might take years to meet your goals. But, the good news is that during those years, you feel better and better every day, so it’s not lost time at all.

For me, the best advice is that there’s no quick fix, and that’s really OK!

I’m loving my citrusy summery juice

I’ve been enjoying my morning juice so much lately, I thought I’d share an updated summery recipe. Into the Vitamix, I throw:

About 6 oz water

A quarter of a grapefruit

1 whole Clementine orange

A light grating of fresh ginger

A handful of spinach or kale

A sprig of parsley

4-5 baby carrots

About 1/4 cup frozen mango or pineapple (instead of ice)

Add some green powder if you use it (we use Amazing Grass Raw Reserve), but even without, what a blast of nutrients in your glass! I hope you love it like I do.

 

Are You a Nibbler?

Does this sound familiar: You head over to your parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner, hang out a while, and finally sit down to the table for the grand meal… only to find that your mom won’t be fixing herself a plate. Apparently she’s been “nibbling all day” and is no longer hungry. Right? Heard that one?

It happens all the time, not just on holidays, and it might be sabotaging the good moves you’ve made in the diet arena. It’s sampling as you cook, or it’s eating what the kids left over, or it’s munching on the crust of the pizza when the box has long been abandoned. All these little bites—the ones that don’t make it onto your food diary log—add up, and their total calories could be worth noting.

You might be thinking “I totally do that!” but you might also be thinking “Do I do that?” There are people who consciously nibble as they bake or cook, and there are people who do it without realizing they do it. It’s time to start paying attention. If you prepare dinner for your family but find you have little appetite when it’s time to plate the food, you are likely a nibbler. Try to notice what your hands and jaws are doing while you’re cooking.

If you know you’re guilty already, curb the problem by first identifying why you do it—do you feel guilty throwing your kids’ uneaten food away? No problem. Pack it up and put it in the fridge for tomorrow, or add it to the compost bin. You might just consistently cook more than you need to. Prepare less, let your family eat it all, and if they’re still hungry, offer them an apple. Do you hate to leave just one bite (not enough to put in Tupperware)? Pause just long enough to think—is it really worth adding that bite to my midsection? I thought not. Women especially have a tough time tossing out perfectly good food. It’s probably got something to do with starving children in Africa. It’s a good instinct, but it’s not our fault those kids are starving, and adding inches to our midlines is not going to feed anyone else’s kids.

As you nibble while you cook, start writing it down. Don’t make it official—little bites don’t need to be recorded in My Fitness Pal—but keep a notepad by your cutting board, and as you nibble, scribble it down. I think by the fifth time you have to wipe your hands to pick up the pen to note yet another “tiny bite,” you might be cured—for the day anyway!

What this all amounts to is adding some consciousness to your food preparing. Realize that all those little bites of crust add up to calories you absolutely didn’t need that day, and would have been perfectly fine without. Occasional tasting is fine. It’s the habitual nibbling that might be the reason you can’t seem to part with those last couple of unwanted pounds.

Energy for a Rainy Day

Made another batch of my yummy version of energy bars this morning.

It was storming and the whole family was hanging out in the kitchen. What better to do than bake vegan cookies and roll up some energy balls to store in the fridge for the week? These little bite-size treats are made with nothing but real food–dried fruit, nut butter, and honey. The original recipe can be found here.

Energy Bites
Just two of these might take the edge off your hunger pre-workout.

Reacquaint yourself with these homemade “energy bars.” You can add flaxseeds, chia seeds, even protein powder if you like. Your body (and pocketbook) will thank you for making them yourself. 

A Gadget for Everyone

If you have a desk job, listen up. You know how you’re supposed to stand up and walk around every hour or so to loosen your limbs and get the blood flowing? And you know how you always forget and realize only when you’re physically straightening your back and your knees with your hands at 5:00 that you haven’t moved in hours? Then this might be for you.

Remember pedometers? I do. I bought my dad one once for Father’s Day. It kept count of his steps during the day to guilt him into getting up out of his chair more often. Well, that was maybe 20 years ago, and that’s all that pedometer did—it counted his steps. Today’s pedometer is a whole new breed, and I think you’re gonna like it.

There are many on the market right now, but one I’m seeing my clients succeed with is the Fitbit (http://www.fitbit.com). It clips on under your clothes and discreetly counts your steps, approximates calories burned, and even syncs up with food diaries like My Fitness Pal to give you a final tally for the day. I’m telling you—I am seeing this thing work. When you see you’re at only 2,000 when 10,000 steps is the goal, are you really just going to sit there? No, you’re going to walk instead of drive to pick the kids up from school, or at least run up and down the stairs a couple times.

If you’re more interested in knowing how many calories you’re burning, you might prefer a heart rate monitor. (The Fitbit gives you an estimate of calories burned, but it’s based on steps taken, so if you do a cycling class, it won’t accurately assess your burn.) When you exercise you start the monitor, and it lets you know if you’re in your target training zone or slowing down, and when you’re done it tells you how many calories you shaved off for the day.

These little gadgets are note terribly expensive, and they’ll basically give you some friendly competition—with yourself, which might be just what you need. You know you need to get up and move, but if there’s a number attached to it—or literally attached to you—that might just be the big push you need to get off the couch. There’s no magic about it, just a little tangible guilt! Oh well…whatever it takes!

If you use a gadget that you love, I’d love to hear about it.

If you’re daydreaming you’re not working hard enough!

Get out of your head for a minute.

So says my highly motivational spin instructor (who might not have known that gem was working till now…). What I get from that—my spin on it, if you will—is “be in the moment.” That also happens to be one of my resolutions this year.

It’s so simple, really, the idea of just being. Being present. Focusing on what is happening right where you are. Yet we are a multitasking society, so we sort of forget how to just focus on one thing. Now going back to one thing at a time has become my resolution; I bet at one point I resolved to get more things done at once! Oh well….

Continue reading “If you’re daydreaming you’re not working hard enough!”

Spotlight on a Fitness Girl

Jeanee’s fitness story.

At a brunch date in 2005, I listened to Karen’s stories about training clients and teaching classes in her neighbor’s loft. At the time I had a membership at the Y I rarely used, and before that, I belonged to an “artsy” gym where I exercised in spurts. Most of my workouts felt directionless, and no one cared whether I pushed myself or slithered off the elliptical machine a little early. I realized I was missing two elements that are now crucial to my exercise routine: accountability and socializing! I signed up for weekly personal training and group Pilates with Karen, because I knew she would care about me showing up, working hard, and enjoying myself.

I have plenty of body hang-ups and areas I’d like to improve, but envisioning a better figure doesn’t motivate me. The fulfilling relationships with the ladies I work out with are what get me off the couch. I have many good reasons not to blow off my scheduled workout with Karen: I know that she’s hired a sitter, that her free time is precious, and that we’re going to swap stories and laugh while I plank. I also like to attend the same yoga classes each week with teachers who take a spiritual approach. They’re almost like my gurus, so if I ditch, I miss out on wisdom I can use on and off the mat.

Continue reading “Spotlight on a Fitness Girl”

My Mid-Morning Green Juice

My basic recipe for a little something green in a glass.

Throw these things in a blender, and you’ll feel amazing! Not to mention it will curb your hunger for pre-lunch snacks you shouldn’t be getting into.

  • 8 oz light/diet cranberry, grapefruit, or other juice–but make sure it’s VERY low sugar (maybe 5g). Better yet, mix a little water in with less juice.
  • A generous handful or 2 of spinach or kale (I use baby spinach or baby kale for a little sweeter flavor)
  • 4 or 5 baby carrots
  • 1 heaping Tbsp Arden’s Garden Power Fuel (or other green powder of your choice)
  • Handful of frozen blueberries, mangoes, strawberries, or other fruit
  • 1/2 to a whole banana (to your taste!)

If you leave out the frozen fruit, just make sure to add some ice for texture. Play with the ingredients a little and you’ll find a blend that tastes just right to you. Enjoy!